Fire Yourself—Again!

Last month we recommended that you spend a portion of each day communicating face-to-face with your employees—the emphasis was focusing on them by leaving behind all ties to digital connections, especially your phone. Today we’d like to increase that challenge by adding one-on-one contact with key customers and prospects. This is preferably done in the same direct manner, but it’s not always feasible, so phone and zoom contact is fine. Emails and texts are not good methods because too much of the opportunity to build your relationship is lost—Remember, only 7% of the message is communicated in words.

Get to know your customers personally by communicating with them even when you are not trying to sell them something. Use your encounters to learn what’s important to them so that you understand both business and personal needs. Leave your customers feeling valued—and with the positive feeling they have from doing business with you that goes beyond the products or services you provide. With these in mind:

• What can you do to reach out to one or two customers in a special way this week?
• What positive impact can you have on your customers in order to show them that you really care?
• What can you do to provide more value to the products and services you offer?
• What did you learn about changing expectations?
• What actions will you take as a result of your interactions?

?Building long-term customer relationships is important to your company’s future and growth. It will keep you ahead of the competition as they strive to catch up with you. Will you begin now to make this a regular part of your activities?